Cub Scout pack milestone punctuated by astronaut

STEVE MARK

Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, January 12, 2010

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Cub Scout pack milestone punctuated by astronaut

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When recruiting for new Cub Scouts, Troop 1190 received a notable boost that rivals any other, even though the public relations effort exceeded the troop’s current geographical membership boundary by about 230 miles. Skyward.

The troop flag was displayed inside the International Space Station during NASA’s STS 124 shuttle mission through 2008. One of the mission specialists, Dr. Gregory Chamitoff, himself an Eagle Scout, had been close friends with scout members at Congregation Emanu El and assisted in an Eagle Scout ceremony a few years ago. To help commemorate the troop’s 10-year anniversary, Chamitoff brought the flag into space during his six-month project. Sunday, Chamitoff returned to the congregation to return the flag to the troop.

“The original idea is that we could cut up the flag and give a piece to each of the scouts,” said Peter Christie, the troop’s scoutmaster. “But, NASA has a policy not to individualize these things that are taken up into space. We’re honored to display the troop flag as it is.”

Before toting the flag into the stratosphere, Chamitoff had to receive official permission from NASA, as the agency obviously has to approve any non-mission item flown into orbit.

“There are a lot of restrictions, and a very small volume of what we can bring into space,” said Chamitoff. “But we are allowed a couple of flags as a crew, and I made a special request to NASA to fly this.”

Chamitoff, who was part of the seven-person crew delivering Japanese modules onto the International Space Station, often credits his scouting background for the road that has taken him into space.

“The dream for me started when I was a scout,” said Chamitoff.

Members of Troop 1190 marveled at Chamitoff’s description of space travel and felt honored their flag was such a part of NASA lore.

“It really means a lot,” said Memorial High School junior Eric Lynn, who is on the brink of earning his own Eagle Scout. “As a troop we get to do a lot of neat things and go on trips. This is like a new trip for us, even though we weren’t physically on it.”

“It was pretty cool,” said 7-year-old Evan Rosenthal. “You really need a lot of training to go into space and see all the things that he sees.”

Chamitoff will journey into space again in July, on what will be one of NASA’s final shuttle missions. The astronaut isn’t sure what personal items he will tote into the heavens on this trip; Chamitoff is still receiving notoriety for what he brought on his last excursion — not necessarily due to the scout flag, but for something else: Bagels.

“The sesame seeds were a little bit of a problem,” remembered Chamitoff. “They were floating all over the place.”